Christmas in America
by Call-Me-KrazyPerson
Summary: Joey gets plane tickets to go visit his grandmother in Brooklyn, New York, for Christmas. He takes Yami and Yugi with him and they have a great time, at first….but what will happen when Yami wanders off by himself in a foreign city and then meets up with some of their none-too-friendly American "friends?" Dragonshipping. Sequel to "Fun and Games"


**Christmas in America**

**Series: **Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Characters:** Joey, Yami, Yugi, Bandit Keith, and Pegasus

**Warnings:** Contains boyxboy relationships, rape, and violence

**Pairings:** Dragonshipping (JoeyxYami)

**Summary:** Joey gets plane tickets to go visit his grandmother in Brooklyn, New York, for Christmas. He takes Yami and Yugi with him and they have a great time, at first….but what will happen when Yami wanders off by himself in a foreign city and then meets up with some of their none-too-friendly American "friends?"

**Notes: **When the words have (These) around them it means they are speaking in English. Also note that this is the sequel to my story "**Fun and Games**," and makes more sense if you read that one first.** Also, I am resubmitting this because I wanted it to be its own story.**

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

It was December, only a few days before Christmas. Usually the kids at Domino High School didn't get any time off for the holiday, it being a Christian holiday and Japan not being a Christian country. But this year the student body had voted to give the school a Christmas break and they had gotten it.

Currently Joey was over at Yugi's house waving a pair of tickets he had just pulled out of his pocket around. "Lookit, tickets to go to America!" His grandma, who lived in Brooklyn, New York, had invited him and his dad to come over and visit and had mailed him the tickets. He had gone to his dad and tried to tell him about it, but he had thrown a broken bottle in his face that he had narrowly missed getting cut with. He decided his dad was way too drunk to even care if he went off to America for the holiday. He was also still terrified of him after how that summer he had beat and raped him and he was glad that he didn't have to spend any time with him.

"America? Why America?" Yami asked. He had thought, with Joey's blonde hair, that he might be part American. Although he had also thought that it might just be bleached.

"Oh my grandma lives there. You see, my dad is American and my mom is Japanese." Joey ran a hand through his golden locks. Still, even though he was half American, and his dad had blonde hair, it was a little unusual for him to have blonde hair. Blonde hair was a recessive genetic trait and it would have been more likely for him to have brown or black hair, but somehow he had ended up with blonde hair.

"I was born in Brooklyn and we moved here when I was little." That would explain how he still had a bit of a New York accent even though he spoke Japanese. It was a strange mix but Yami had gotten used to it.

"Do you speak English?" With how horrible Joey was in English class Yami kinda doubted it.

"Yes, though it's a bit rusty. I can't write it so well though." He shyly handed one of the tickets to the shorter boy. "Here, come with me."

"You sure you want me to come? I can't speak English."

"It'll be fine, I can translate. Come on, I want you to come." He reached out and took Yami's hands in his own. That summer the two boys had realized that they had feelings for each other on their summer vacation to the beach. They had kept it a secret from everyone else but still saw each other a lot. But they had hung out a lot before they had known that they were attracted to each other so no one had noticed. Except Téa, who was still suspicious that something was going on between the two.

"Well, okay. I did not have anything better to do over the holiday." Yami ran his fingers over Joey's palm, enjoying the warmth.

They got everything worked out, how to get to the airport, passports, everything, and soon were on a plane headed to the United States of America. The first thing Yami noticed as he stepped off the plane and into the airport was how tall everyone was. He was pretty short even for a Japanese guy, only five foot, but here he felt like a midget.

They wondered through the airport, not knowing what to do, until Joey spotted a sign with his name on it. "Oh, hey, there's my grandma!"

They walked up to a little old lady who was plump and about the same height as Yami. She had a kind smile and was waving at them. "(Hello, Joey, you've gotten so much bigger since the last time I saw you.)"

"(Well, yeah, Gram, it's been like eleven years since I last saw you.)"

Yami hung back from them, not having any idea what they were saying and feeling a little awkward. He smiled politely and kept quiet.

"(Where's your father? And who's this?)" Joey's grandma had noticed Yami. "(Such strange hair.)" She grabbed a handful of his blonde bangs and fingered them. "(Three colors all together, that must have taken some time to do.)"

"(Believe it or not but his hair is naturally like that. His grandpa's got hair like that too, but it's all turned grey.)" He gestured toward the short boy. "(This is Yami,)" he paused, thinking what to use for his last name since he technically didn't have one, "(Moto. Yami Moto.)"

Yami knew that he was being introduced, understanding his own name, but otherwise he was still in the dark. "What is going on, Joey?"

"(Oh, he speaks Japanese. Does he speak English?)"

"(No, he only speaks Japanese. He's confused about what's going on. Oh and, Dad's not here because he didn't want to come.)" It wasn't entirely the whole truth, but it was close enough. "(Yami's my best friend so I thought I'd bring him along instead. I hope that's okay.)"

"(Oh it's fine, dear. It'll be nice to have some young people around. That hair of his will take some getting used to though.)" She ran a hand along the edge of it.

Joey's grandma had a car parked out in the parking lot and they took it to her apartment building. The streets were quite crowded and it took them some time to get through them. Yami commented that it might take less time just to walk than to bother to take a car. Joey translated for him and Joey's grandma replied that it probably would be faster, but they might get mugged on the way.

They got to the building and got out, parking the car along the side of the road. Joey and his grandma walked up the stairs but Yami lingered on the sidewalk. It had just started to snow, huge fluffy snowflakes drifting down. If he blocked out all the street noise and just focused on the flakes it was almost magical.

He was almost scared out of his skin when Joey grabbed him by the shoulder, interrupting the moment. "You'd better come inside. It's cold out here."

"Holy Ra, do not scare me like that, I was about to kick you in the balls." His heart was still pounding a mile a minute. He had thought that maybe he was going to get mugged, or worse.

Joey laughed. "Nope, just me. Come on, Grandma has food in there, I'm starving!"

The two boys went inside. Joey's grandma did indeed have food in the kitchen. Mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and streamed broccoli. They sat down at the table and ate all of it. Joey usually ate like any teenage boy, like a pig, but he was even hungrier because of the trip.

And also because of the trip, they were both very tired. With the jet lag and the time zone difference their bodies were confused and all they wanted to do was sleep. "(I set up a mattress on the floor in the spare bedroom along with the bed. I had intended that you and your father were going to stay there, Joey. But if you want I can move the mattress somewhere else.)"

"(Oh, we can sleep in the same room, it's fine with us.)"

They put their bags on the floor and changed into their night clothes; which for Joey was just stripping down to his underwear and for Yami putting on his pajamas. They didn't really care who took the bed and who took the mattress so they just randomly chose and Joey ended up with the bed.

Joey fell asleep almost instantly but Yami just couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't that the mattress was uncomfortable, it was actually quite comfortable; he just felt somehow uneasy. He crawled unto the bed and under the covers with Joey, snuggling up to his bare back.

"Hmm, wha?" Joey blinked his brown eyes open, feeling Yami against him. "You didn't like the mattress?"

"I was just lonely down there. Plus it is cold in here." Yami wrapped his arms around Joey's chest from behind. "You are warm." He signed happily and buried his face in his back.

Joey flipped over so that they were face to face. "I never knews you to be clingy," he teased, pulling Yami close and kissing him softly on the cheek.

Yami returned the kiss, but made his on Joey's lips. They fell asleep, wrapped up together. They had slept together a few times already over the months; but just that, slept together. They had yet to have sex. Joey was still too afraid of what his father had done to him to want to do anything other than kiss and hug his friend and lover. At times Yami got a little horny and wanted to do more but he respected Joey's feelings and didn't push it.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

The next morning Yami woke up to find that Joey wasn't in the bed anymore. He panicked for a second and completely forgot where he was. He sat up, groping through the sheets, fruitlessly looking for the blonde boy. He blinked, realized what he was doing, and was finally awake. He had had a dream that Joey had left him and it had scared him.

"Morning, sleepy head, I've already been awake for an hour." Joey stepped into the room. He was showered and dressed already. "I've got fun plans for today."

"What kind of plans?" Yami got up off the bed, looking in a mirror. His hair was a total mess, sticking out every which way in a crazy manner.

"Oh, Christmas shopping plans." Joey didn't elaborate on these plans and left the room.

Yami ran a hand through his hair then went over to his bag and pulled out the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi, of course, had known about the trip and was glad to come too, but he had let Yami have his body for the time being. At first Yugi had been rather uncomfortable about Joey and Yami's relationship, but now that time had passed and he had gotten used to it and was, for the most part, okay with it. But he did, of course, what to see America for himself.

Yami linked his consciousness with Yugi's. 'Hello, Yugi, how are you doing?' He ran a finger over the cold metal of the puzzle. It had been a bit of a challenge getting the thing passed airport security. After all a big, pure gold, object wasn't the most common thing to try to take with you on a plane. Yami had claimed that it was a family heirloom, and technically it was, and after inspecting it they let him take it with him, but only if he kept it in his luggage and not with his carry on. It was deemed that it could be used as a weapon so they didn't let him have it on his person; which was why it was in his bag. Yami had been so tired the night before that he hadn't taken it out.

'Fine, not much to do in here though; just float around and stare at hieroglyphics. After a while you just kinda drift into a state of nothingness. Know what I mean?'

'Yes. I was stuck in that thing for thousands of years. Though for most of it I was not aware of anything.' Yami walked into the bathroom, still talking with Yugi. 'Joey is planning on going on a shopping trip today. I think you would probably enjoy that more than I would.' Yami slipped inside the Puzzle, letting Yugi have his body back.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, and taking care of his messed up hair, Yugi joined the two Wheeler's in the kitchen. They ate breakfast and then Yugi and Joey headed out to go shopping. They didn't have a particular plan; they just wanted to see what they could find.

"I wanna get something for my Gram, Yugi," Joey had noticed that Yugi and Yami had switched, but didn't seem to mind, "But I haven't seen her since I was five so I don't know what to get her."

"Maybe something to do with cats?" Yugi suggested.

"Why cats?"

"She has a pet cat. I saw it this morning while getting dressed."

"Really? I didn't know she had a cat."

"Came out from under the bed. A small orange tabby." It had surprised Yugi when it had suddenly appeared. He had tried to pet it but it ran away.

They looked in many little stores but Joey couldn't find the perfect gift for his grandma. Yugi, on the other hand, found the perfect gift for Téa. They had, of course, told their friends that they were going to America. Though Yugi hadn't actually told Téa where in America they were going. If she had known that they were going to Brooklyn, which was part of New York, she'd have wanted to go with them even more and they just didn't have another ticket at such short notice. Téa wanted to become a dancer in New York, so she would have loved to come with them.

He held up a tiny, delicate dancing ballerina on a box that spun and played music. It was perfect for her and he bought it. American dollars confused him but he figured it out. After Yugi showed it to Joey he got the idea that they should get gifts for all their friends. "I knows just what to get Tristan; though it might be a little hard to find it." Tristan liked superhero movies, and America was definitely the place to find them, but he wanted ones that were either dubbed or subbed in Japanese. That might be hard to find.

They scoured many, many stores but couldn't find any superhero movies that fit the bill. They also couldn't find anything for Bakura or Joey's grandma, but they didn't really know what to get for them. They were about to give up when they happened upon a store that sold rather random things. It had things that Joey and Yugi had no idea what they were, plus various odds and ends.

While Joey was searched a rack of VHS's a girl who worked at the store approached him. "(Hi, can I help you find something?)" Joey seemed to be looking for something in particular but didn't seem to be having any luck.

"(Ah, yes. You wouldn't happen to have any superhero movies dubbed or subbed in Japanese? I know it's a strange order, but I wanted to get my friend a gift from America and that would be just perfect.)" Joey said, rubbing the back of his head in slight frustration.

"(That is a strange order. But this is a strange store. Just last week we got an order for just that, superhero movies in Japanese. But the guy who ordered them never picked them up so we still have them.)" The girl kept staring at Joey and it was making him a little nervous.

"(Oh that's great!)" Joey grinned; he had actually found what he was looking for. "(But can I buy them, they were ordered by someone else after all.)"

"(If the guy hasn't picked them up by now I'm pretty sure he doesn't want them.)" The girl led Joey to the counter where she had the VHS's stored.

"(So are you Japanese? With that hair you don't really look it.)"

"(Only half. I'm visiting my American grandma right now.)" The girl was still staring at him and Joey continued to feel nervous.

"(That's cool.)" The girl handed him the tapes and Joey handed her money. "(So you wouldn't happen to want to hang out tomorrow or something?)" The girl had thought Joey was cute the moment she spotted him and was interested.

"(Um, well, I'm here to spend time with my grandma, and…)" The girl was obviously hitting on him. Joey was usually quite dense to that kind of thing but he could tell this time. He didn't know how to tell her that he was taken and do it nicely.

He was saved the trouble when Yugi came up to him. He had been just randomly looking at things in the store. He had no idea what the two were talking about but Joey looked to have dug himself into a hole of some sort so he had come over to help. "Did you actually find Japanese superhero movies?"

"Yep," Joey held them up then stowed them in a bag.

"Wow, well, guess we only have Bakura and your grandma left to find things for. Come on." Yugi took Joey's arm and tugged him out of the store before the girl could say anything else.

"Whew," Joey let out a sign of relief. "That could have been awkward."

"What was going on?" Yugi had an idea of what was going on but not being able to understand English hadn't helped.

"That girl was hitting on me."

"Oh? She was kinda cute; you should have gone for it." Yugi winked mischievously.

"You know that me and Yami…" Joey realized that Yugi was teasing and stopped.

"Hey, now that we're in America you know what we can do?" Yugi changed the subject.

"What?" Joey absently twirled his bag around.

"Eat real American hamburgers!" Yugi grinned. The boys loved to eat them even back in Japan so this was the perfect opportunity to try some of the originals.

"Hell yes!" They found a hamburger restaurant and went in. It wasn't one of the chain restaurants, but an old-fashioned one that prided itself in having the best ingredients. Both boys agreed that they were the best burgers they had ever had and they would definitely have to come back before they went back to Japan.

On their way back to Joey's grandma's apartment Yugi asked Joey if he'd teach him some English. "How do you say 'where's the bathroom?' in English, Joey?"

"Why, you need to use one?" Joey was in a very happy mood after having both found a gift for his oldest friend and having had delicious food.

"No, I just want to learn some English so I'm not so confused."

Joey taught Yugi some basic English and he seemed to catch on pretty quickly. Once back at the apartment Joey's grandma was a little worried. "(You were out so long and didn't come back for lunch, I was a little concerned. There are some pretty horrible people out on those streets.)"

"(Ah, don't worry, Gram, we'll be okay,)" Joey reassured her.

Not all that much happened the rest of the afternoon. Joey's grandma liked to knit and so she sat in her rocking chair, knitting something. "(Did you know that this rocking chair is over a hundred years old?)"

Joey sat, cross legged, at the foot of the rocking chair, feeling like a little kid again, staring up at his grandma. They talking about randomly things, and talked and talked.

Yugi, still not being able to understand them, got bored and poked around the living room. He found a bookshelf and started to look at the books. Most of them held no interest for him as they we all words and he couldn't read the words very well. But then he found a set of small paperback books that had colorful pictures of animals, both real and imagined, in them.

He was so enthralled with them that he didn't realize that he was the only one left in the room. He put down the book he was looking at, which was about little lambs, and stood up. No one was in the living room with him anymore and we wondered where they were. He wandered into the kitchen, searching. Yugi found Joey's grandma in there, cooking. He lingered at the door, not saying anything, not knowing what to say, or how to say it.

Some sixth sense told Joey's grandma that someone was watching her and she turned around. She found Yugi watching her, silently. She took a double take; she could have sworn that he looked different now than he had yesterday when he had first arrived. It was something about his eyes, mostly. His hair was also different; it didn't have as many blonde pieces sticking up. But he could have just restyled it. So what really caught her eye were his eyes. They were somehow wider and younger looking now; before they had looked sharper and more exotic, more fierce, even though he had shown no aggressive behavior. She shook her head, thinking her old eyes were playing tricks on her, and turned back to her cooking.

Joey came into the room, he had been in the bathroom, and was now wiping his wet hands on his pants. "(Hi guys, miss me?)"

"(Now, Joey, there is a hand towel to dry your hands on, not your pants,)" Joey's grandma scolded him.

"(Sorry, Gram, I forgot, and it's just so much faster this way.)"

"(Joey,)" she lowered her voice even though Yugi couldn't understand her, "(There's something, well different about your friend today. Did you notice?)"

It took Joey a moment to realize that his grandma must have noticed the difference between Yugi and Yami. It would be just too weird to tell her the truth that he was technically two different people living in the same body, and said something that made more sense. "(Well, you see Yug erm, Yami,)" he remembered at the last second that he had introduced his grandma to Yami first and should use just one name, "(Sometimes has these kinda mood changes, and his personality is a bit different.)"

"(He has multiple personality disorder?)" It was the only explanation she could come up with.

"(Ah, no, he only has two, and he's perfectly sane.)"

"(I don't know, Joey, he sounds a little dangerous. Are you should you should be making friends with people like him?)" Her mothering instincts were kicking in and she couldn't help but be worried for her grandson.

"(He's perfectly safe, Gram, just a little different.)"

"(Well, if you say so, Joey.)" She wasn't entirely convinced, but neither Yugi nor Yami had done anything to really worry her.

Yugi had gotten bored and wondered over to the window, having no idea that he was being talked about. It was snowing again, a wonderland of white falling from the sky. "We should build a snowman."

Joey came over to him. "Yeah, we should; but where? Gram doesn't have a yard."

"I saw a small park near here on the way back from shopping."

"Then let's do it; should be fun." Joey forgot for a moment that it was Yugi and not Yami standing next to him and he wrapped an arm around Yugi's waist.

Yugi felt uncomfortable with the intimate contact and sidestepped to get away from it. "Let's go right now!" Yugi was a little flustered and ran to get his boots and coat on.

"(Ah, where is he going? Dinner's almost ready,)" Gram said when she saw that Yugi was getting ready to go outside.

"(Yeah, we'd better wait until after we eat.)" Joey informed Yugi of this and he stopped just as he was zipping up his puffy blue coat. Yugi looked disappointed but took the coat off, but left his boots on, and sat down at the kitchen table.

After they ate the two boys rushed over to the park. On their way they paused to just stare in wonder at the snow drifting down, making the world a white, sparkling winter wonderland. "Hey, Joey, look! I'm a Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Yugi shouted watching his own breath turn into fog.

"Well I'm a Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey breathed out as well.

"Ha! I have more attack points!"

When they got to the park they found a group of small children already there and just as they had planned to do themselves, they were building a snowman. Joey and Yugi contemplated not building one because of this, but decided to just go ahead and do it. In fact, they took it as a challenge to build a bigger and better snowman than the children; but the children had used up most of the snow in the park already and they didn't manage to make a bigger one.

One of the children laughed at them and playfully threw a snowball. Joey took this as the start of a war and threw snowballs back. Soon the park was a warzone of flying snow. Yugi and Joey were outnumbered and toppled their snowman to use it as a shield against the cold projectiles. They hid behind it and flung snow as best they could at the pack of children.

Soon it was dark and the children left to go home. Joey and Yugi went back to the apartment as well, laughing and retelling their favorite parts of the snowball fight. "Did you see that kid's face when you threw that huge snowball in her face?" Yugi giggled, holding his side where a snowball that had accidentally had a chunk of ice in it had hit him and left a light bruise.

"Oh yeah, that's was priceless! But then she threw an even bigger one right back at me!" The two boys had had a great time and felt like little kids again. When they got back to the apartment Gram had made them hot chocolate and they drank it thankfully. They had gotten quite cold out there and the temperature was still dropping.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

After they had finished their drinks they headed into their room to sleep. Yugi picked up the Puzzle from the nightstand where he had left it and slipped it on, letting Yami have his body. He hadn't put it on that day because it was a hassle to try to keep it under his coat.

Yami walked over to Joey, who was sitting on his bed, and knelt down by his legs. He rested his head on Joey's knee and looked up at him. "So, what did you do today?" He was tempted to add, 'Without me,' on the end, but held his tongue. No need to make Joey feel guilty.

"Oh it was awesome. We went shopping and found the perfect gifts for both Tristan and Téa, went to this burger place with the best burgers ever, and had a snowball fight." He was grinning from ear to ear and Yami found it impossible to stay jealous that Yugi got to spend the day with him.

"Sound like you had fun." Yami ran a hand up Joey's thigh, if he couldn't spend time with him in the day, he'd claim him at night.

Joey let out a small gasp as Yami's hand came a little too close to his crotch. "Yami, what are you doing?! Stop it!" He crawled up onto the bed, pulling his legs in front of him as a kind of shield.

"Oh come on, Joey, you've been holding out on me for months." Yami stood and got onto the bed next to Joey, running a finger down his leg.

"Stop it! I, I'm not ready yet. It's too soon." His eyes looked petrified and Yami pulled his hand back. He really was still scared of his father molesting him.

"Any other guy would jump at the first mention of sex. But you," Yami signed. "Joey, you are never going to get over it if you do not just get some balls and just do it."

"I know, but, when you touch me there, my brain tells me that it's him, putting his filthy hands all over me…and.." He couldn't finish the sentence.

Yami couldn't entirely understand what Joey was going through, never having had the same thing happen to him, but he could see that he was scared and he didn't like to see that. "Damn it, Joey, guys have needs. I have needs." He came in closer to the blonde, pulling him into a kiss. If he could just seduce him long enough he was sure he'd get over it.

But Joey wasn't having any of it. He pulled back from the kiss, backing up against the wall. "Yami, I said no. Please stop."

"Arggh, Joey!" But he backed off, disgruntled. He glanced down. His body had other ideas. "See what you did. And you are not doing to do anything to help me, are you?" He stormed out of the room to the bathroom to take care of his 'problem.'

When he came back Joey had gotten ready for bed and was tucked in. Yami didn't say a word to him and changed into his pajamas, getting into his bed on the floor. There was an awkward silence that was finally broken when Joey asked, "Are you mad at me?"

Yami stayed quiet for a moment and then, "What do you think?"

"Sorry, it's just, I, I can't get over it that easily." Even though Yami couldn't see him from where he was, his was sure that Joey had a sad, downcast expression.

"What if I let you be on top?"

It took Joey a bit to realize what Yami meant. "Wait a minute; you were planning on topping ME?" He sounded shocked at the mere thought of it. "But you're so tiny; I don't sees how that would work."

"What does size have to do with anything? It is how you use it." Though Yami had to admit that if Joey really wanted to he was considerably bigger and stronger than he was and could easily dominate him.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

"Hey, Yami, want to come shopping with me this time?" Joey asked. He was trying to ignore the awkwardness of the night before and do something that would distract them both. "We still need something for Bakura and Gram; and something for you and Yugi, for that matter."

It was Christmas Eve day and they still needed more gifts for their friends. Joey wanted to spend more time with his Grandma and invited her to come along with them. She said she'd come, but only if they could rest whenever she wanted to; she just didn't have the stamina that the young people did.

They were in a store that sold a lot of glass things and Joey was eyeing a bag full of colorful glass marbles. "What do we get for Bakura? I haven't really known him for that long and don't know him that wells."

"Well, we could get him Duel Monster's cards, or some role playing figurines," Yami suggested; but even to his own ears the items sounded wrong. Bakura already had those things, why would he want more?

"These marbles sure are pretty." Joey picked up the bag, fingering the orbs.

"Why not get him those? Ra, even I would like them." He spotted a larger marble nearby and picked it up. It was a pale blue and about the size of a golf ball. "You could get him this shooter too and then he could play with them."

"You play a game with marbles? I thought they were just to look pretty." Figures that the King of Games would know this.

"Yes, the game of marbles was first invented in ancient Egypt; you make a circle and take turns knocking the marbles out of the circle with the shooter. Whoever gets the most marbles out wins."

"Alright, I'll get these for him then." He took the shooter marble from Yami and went and bought them. "Now, what do I get for you, Yami?"

"You do not need to get anything for me, Joey. Just being here with you is plenty."

"I like the sentiment, but I really wanna gets you something."

"You could finally have sex with me," Yami said bluntly.

Joey blushed crimson. "Let's not talk about that. I want to get something that you can open up."

"I could take your clothes off." Yami smirked, enjoying how flustered he was making his boyfriend.

"Yami!" Joey looked so embarrassed that Yami relented and stopped teasing him.

"I do not know, I cannot really think of anything I want. Except maybe some rare cards that are much too expensive." He knew that Joey didn't have much in the way of money, and was using a lot of it on these Christmas gifts.

"Then I'll go ask Gram what she wants." Joey's grandma was sitting out on a bench outside the store waiting for them. Joey sat down next to her. "(Hi, Gram, what do you want for Christmas?)" He decided to just come out and say it instead of beating around the bush.

"(Oh dear, you don't need to get me anything. Just having you here with me for Christmas is plenty.)"

It was exactly what Yami had said. "(But, Gram, I really wanna gets you something.)"

"(Really, Joey, I have no need for a material gift. Though I'm sure Clementine would love something.)"

Joey was confused. "(Who's Clementine?)" As far as he knew his grandma lived alone; his grandfather had passed away years ago.

"(My cat. She's a tiny little orange thing. Not very sociable, but the cutest little darling.)" So Yugi really had seen a cat come out from under the bed yesterday.

The three of them wondered the streets some more and Joey bought some cat treats and a toy with a feather on it for Clementine. Now Yami was the only one he had left to get a gift for. He was going to press him again for what he wanted, but Yami beat him to it. "What do you want as a gift, Joey?" Yami asked.

"Well, a new shirt would be nice."

"Clothes? You want clothes for Christmas?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

It seemed like an odd request, but at least Yami had an idea of what to get him now. It was after noon now and they headed back to the apartment and ate lunch. After lunch Joey sat down in the one hundred year old rocking chair and turned on the TV. He was flipping through the channels, trying to pick a Christmas special to watch, when Yami came in.

"What kind of shirt would you like?" Yami wanted more details before going to look for one.

"Dunno. Surprise me." He was too busy staring at the screen to give Yami his full attention.

Yami made to sit down on Joey's lap but Joey pushed him back. "This chair is really old; I don't think it could hold us both."

"But I do not even weigh a hundred pounds."

"Really? I knew you were small, but that's just tiny."

Before anything else could be said Gram came into the room. "(What would you boys like for Christmas dinner? I want to make something special, it is Christmas, after all.)"

"(I dunno. I could come to the store with you, Gram, and help you choose.)" Joey stood up. He informed Yami what was going on and asked if he wanted to come.

Yami said he didn't want to come and they both left without him. Yami had ulterior motives for wanting to stay. Once he was sure that they were gone he put on his coat and slipped out into the cold air. He was determined to get Joey a present, and it would be all the better if it was a surprise. Sure, Joey would likely know that it was a shirt, since that's what he had asked for, but it could still be a surprise what kind of shirt it was.

He searched in the stores they had already looked in earlier that day and the day before but couldn't find something that just screamed Joey. He finally found just the thing in a small shop that he'd never been to before. It was a light blue hoodie with a Golden Retriever on it. The dog reminded him so much of Joey that he knew that it was the perfect gift. He bought the hoodie and happily left the store.

Before he left the store he spotted a tall man with a white cowboy hat. He was looking at him in a way that made Yami nervous. But in spite of this, he smiled friendlily at the man. Once outside he realized that he had no idea where he was. He had wandered into an alley and had no idea how to get back to the Wheeler apartment.

He got to thinking, that man back in the shop had looked awfully familiar. Then it hit him; that was Keith Howard, the former U.S. Duel Monsters Champion. He hadn't recognized him at first without his signature American Flag bandana. What was he doing here? Though he was an American, and this was America, so it wasn't all that strange. Had the man recognized him? He hadn't said anything, but with Yami's hair it was pretty much impossible not to notice him.

Yami began to feel nervous. A cold chill that was not caused by the weather ran down his spine. If Keith had seen him would he come after him? They were not friends at all, they were enemies and Yami didn't think he could take him in a fight by himself in a dark alley. He kicked himself for being stupid enough to wander into a dark alley without even thinking about the consequences.

Then he spotted the end of the alley, a shaft of light from the setting sun lighting it up. Yami quickened his pace, hoping to get out before anything happened. But as fate would have it, that was not to be the case. A pair of large hands clamped down on his small shoulders. Before he could let out a sound a cloth was shoved over his mouth. Then everything went black.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

Meanwhile Joey had gotten back from grocery shopping with his grandma. They had gotten everything to make a delicious Christmas dinner. Plus his grandma hadn't bought a tree yet so they had gotten one of those as well. It was a Colorado Blue Spruce, and kinda on the wide side, so it had taken some doing to get it through the door.

Joey ran and got the box of ornaments his grandma had to decorate the tree. On his way to find it he looked for Yami. He had been in the living room before they had left so he looked there first. But he couldn't find him in the living room. He didn't get worried yet though. He looked in the bedroom, and then searched every single room in the apartment. But there was no sign at all of Yami. Now he was worried.

He left the box of ornaments by the tree and went to his grandma. "(Gram, have you seen Yami? I can't finds him anywhere.)"

"(Maybe he went out shopping? Oh my, it's not safe for him to do that alone.)" She now looked as worried as Joey.

"(I better go find him.)" Joey put the coat he had just recently taken off back on and dashed out the door, ignoring his grandma's worried cry of: "(It's not safe for you to be out there by yourself either!)"

Joey searched in every place he could think of. He also couldn't help think of how Yami had been angry at him last night. Maybe he was still angry and had gone off and done something irrational. But that didn't sound like something Yami would do. Then he thought that that morning Yami had been asking him what he wanted for Christmas. It was more than likely that Yami had just gone off and bought him a Christmas present. But his grandma was right; it wasn't safe for him to wander off by himself. Who knew what kind of creeps were out there.

Finally, by pure luck, Joey came to the store that Yami had bought his present at. He asked the clerk, like he had been asking all the clerks in the stores he searched, if he had seen a short boy with spikey, tri-colored hair come in here. Joey let out a sigh of relief when he said that he had, and that he had been in here not that long ago. He got worried again when the clerk also said that he had seen a suspicious looking man follow him out. Joey found small footprints that looked to be from Yami's boots in the snow, leading into an alley. He followed them, hoping to find his friend on the other end.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

The next thing Yami knew he was lying on a rather comfortable bed. It was not the feeling he was expecting to have after being grabbed and given what was most likely chloroform. He sat up, but he sat up too fast and a spell of dizziness overtook him. He had to lie back down until it passed. When he felt that it would be safe to get up, he did.

He found himself in a small room. The only thing in the room was the rather large bed he had been lying on. The room was themed in red, white, and pink, with the carpet a blood red, the walls white, and the bed a combination of all three colors with a red comforter, pink pillows, and white sheets. Yami looked around for a way out and found that the room had no windows at all, just a single mahogany door.

He walked to the door, glancing down on his way. He was no longer wearing his puffy blue coat or his black boots. He was left wearing what he had put on this morning: his tight, dark blue jeans, a black turtleneck sweater, and fluffy wool socks. He wondered momentarily where his winter clothes had gone, but was more interested in finding out where he was, and how to get out.

Just as he was reaching for the door knob it opened, seemingly of its own accord. "Glad to see that you're awake, Yugi boy."

Yami stared in shock for a moment, not quite believing that Maximillion Pegasus was standing right in front of him. He was dressed in his usual all red outfit, his long silver hair as perfect and shiny as ever. "What are you doing here?" was the only thing Yami could think to say.

"Why, I live here, of course, Yugi boy." He opened the door wider, waving an arm in the direction of the hall. "Care for some tea? I put some water on to boil."

Yami didn't truth Pegasus as far as he could throw him, which admittedly wasn't very far. Why did all these Americans have to be so damn tall? But he followed Pegasus as he led him to a kitchen. Yami had expected it to be huge and expensive looking, but it was actually quite small and had a quaint, homey feeling about it.

Pegasus went over to the stove where a kettle was boiling away happily. "Oh my, I caught it just in time." He filled two cups with hot water and put tea bags in them to seep. "I hope you like Earl Grey, it's absolutely divine."

"What do you want, Pegasus?" Yami couldn't think that the man, who had done so many horrible things to him and his friends in the past, could just want to sit down and have a friendly cup of tea with him.

"Want? All I want is to drink some tea with you." He seemed to have a sudden recollection. "Oh, and cookies. Now where did I put those?" He found the plate of cookies in the refrigerator took it out and placed it on the small round table. The table had a red and white checkered table cloth that only added to the home style feel of the place. "Try one, they're delicious." Pegasus took one and took a small bite out of it. "Mmm, perfect. It could only be better if it was straight out of the oven."

Yami was standing back, arms crossed, glaring at the tall man. "I do not trust you. This is all some kind of trick, is it not?"

"Sit, Yugi boy, I just want to have tea with you." When Yami didn't bulge he asked, "What brings you to Brooklyn?"

"Joey and I are visiting his grandmother." Yami kept his answer as short and undetailed as he could.

"How do you like America?"

"Fine, can I go now?"

"Did I ever say that I was detaining you?" A timer went off and Pegasus went and finished preparing the tea. "Sugar?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Yami.

Yami found himself nodding. His stomach also let out a growl. Just how late in the day was it? "Oh my, I think someone needs to eat. Come on, try the cookies, I made them myself."

"That makes me want them even less." Yami made a face.

"Oh, come now, I'm not that bad of a cook. And I assure you, there is nothing in them besides what is usually in cookies."

"You did not drug them?" Yami was pretty sure that he had, why else would he want him to eat them? Though Pegasus had eaten one himself…

"If I had wanted to do anything to you, Yugi boy, you were unconscious when you got here and I would have had plenty of time then to do anything." He did kind of have a point; Yami didn't know how long he'd been out, and if Pegasus had wanted to do anything it would have been the perfect opportunity. But he had found nothing wrong with his person, so Pegasus must not have done anything.

Against his better judgment, Yami found himself sitting down and taking the mug of tea Pegasus offered him. He took a sip, it really was good. He took one of the cookies; it was shaped like a star and had light pink frosting on it. It was good as well. Soon he had finished the tea and almost the entire plate of cookies, with only a little help from Pegasus. Boy, if there was anything in the cookies or the tea he had sure taken a lot of it. But he waited, and nothing happened. So they really hadn't been drugged.

"How do I get out of here?" Yami stood.

"The exit is that way." Pegasus waved his hand in a direction out the door.

Yami walked out the door and down the hall. No matter how much he walked, he couldn't seem to find the exit. The place was a maze! Maybe that was why Pegasus had let him go; there was no way for him to get out. He would be very scared right now if he had looked behind him as he had left the kitchen; Pegasus had had an absolutely evil grin on his face as he peered at Yami over the rim of his cup.

Yami came across the room with the bed. He peeked inside, he wasn't sure why he did it, but he did. On the side of the bed, the opposite side that he had gotten up on, were his coat, boots, and the bag with Joey's gift in it. He had been too busy with the door to look in that spot and hadn't seen his things at all.

He sat down on the floor and pulled on his left boot. As he was reaching for the right boot a voice spoke, "I wouldn't bother."

Yami's head shot up, a startled expression on his face. He was expecting to see Pegasus, but instead he saw Bandit Keith. Keith lashed out with his foot and kicked Yami's right hand away from the boot. "Oww, that hurt! What did you do that for?!" Yami shouted, rubbing his now bruised hand.

Keith didn't answer, which actually scared Yami more than if he had started cursing at him or something. He reached down and yanked Yami to his feet by the front of his sweater. He then ripped the sweater off and tossed it to the side.

Yami backed up, soon making contact with the wall. The cool wall touching his now bare skin made him shivered and he hugged himself. He then stood up straight, glaring at Keith. "What do you think you are doing?" He thought that maybe he could challenge the man to a duel or something and get himself out of this mess; but he had forgotten to take his deck with him when he went out shopping.

Keith didn't answer him, just picked him up and tossed him none-too-gently onto the bed. Yami immediately tried to get up, but Keith came down on top of him, holding him down. Yami gasped as Keith ran his cold hands along his bare chest. When Keith reached to undo his belt, Yami brought up his still booted left foot and slammed it into the man's stomach.

Keith let out a cry of pain and released his hold on the small boy. Yami crawled out from under him and ran to the door. But it was locked and no matter how much he jiggled the door knob it wouldn't budge. He put his entire weight into slamming into the door, but that didn't work either.

"You little shit; you're going to pay for doing that." Keith, still clutching at his stomach, got up from the bed and advanced toward Yami.

Yami made the first move and struck out with his fist at the man. Keith easily caught it and grabbed both of Yami's hands, holding them together above his head, backing him up against the wall. With his other hand he reached down and unbuckled Yami's belt, throwing it with more force than was necessary at the wall. It hit and left a good dent. Pegasus was not going to like that.

Keith again picked Yami up and tossed him on the bed. Yami wasn't going down without a fight and kept his legs firmly clamped together. But this really wasn't much of a match for the much larger man, who unbuttoned Yami's jeans and pulled them, along with his briefs, off and threw them on the floor. Yami kicked out again, but Keith had removed his boot before removing his pants; plus he was ready for the kick, catching the foot. "If you just stop struggling this will be so much easier." He pulled a knife out of his pocket and held it to Yami's throat. "Any more out of you and I'll slit your damn throat."

Yami lay absolutely still, not daring to even breathe. He was sure that Keith would make good on his threat and he didn't want to die. He also didn't want to be raped, but given the choice he'd pick the option that didn't mean instant death. He didn't struggle anymore and let his body go limp.

Yami had to literally bite his tongue to keep from screaming as Keith forcefully rammed into him. He tried to focus on the taste of his own blood instead of what was happening. He gasped and moaned as Keith threw him around on the bed, making it as painful as possible for him. Keith punched him in the stomach, knocking all the air out of his lungs. "Payback's a bitch, hmm?" Keith sneered in his ear.

Yami held his eyes tightly shut, still trying to block it all out. Not only was this humiliating, it was also demoralizing and excruciatingly painful. He now knew what Joey must have felt like when his father had raped him; helpless, worthless, and completely out of control of the situation. He now understood why it was that Joey had refused to have sex with him. It really must have reminded him far too much of this, even though Yami had been gentle with him, there were just too many similarities for Joey's scarred psyche to handle.

When Keith was finally done with him he stood up, leaving Yami, battered and broken, on the bed. But before he made it to the door Yami heard a shout right outside the door. "Yami! Are you in here?"

Yami didn't know if he believed it, that was Joey's voice! "Joey!" he cried out in a hoarse voice, lifting his head slightly off the bed. He was too weak from his ordeal to do anything else.

"Yami?! Are you really in there?!" Yami heard Joey try the door knob. Upon finding it locked Joey broke the door down. It made a very loud noise that must have been heard throughout the building as it broke from its hinges and came crashing to land on the floor.

Joey paused a moment, taking in the scene in the room. His eyes first came to rest on Yami lying, totally naked with several nasty looking bruises on him and a few minor cuts, on the bed. "What the hell?!" He then spotted Keith, trying to sneak past Joey without being seen. "What happened here?! Tell me!" He had followed Yami's footprints until they had ended, being replaced my Keith's larger footprints, and they had led him right to a skyscraper with a winged horse, a Pegasus, outside of it. He just knew that something fishy was going on and entered the building, surprised that it hadn't been locked, and had explored until he heard noises in one of the rooms.

He grabbed Keith by the front of his shirt, glaring up and the man; even though Joey was smaller than he, the sheer ferocity of his actions made Keith gulp, and desperately want to get away. "Tell me!" Joey repeated, propelling Keith backwards until he slammed into the wall. "What did you do to him?!" Keith didn't reply, just stared in fear at the angry blonde.

"He," Yami started, sitting shakily up, "He raped me, Joey." He said it so quietly that it took Joey a second to comprehend what he had said.

"You bastard." Joey would have spit fire right now if he could have. He brought his fist up and punched Keith, repeatedly, in the face. Then he brought his foot up and kicked him in the crotch, knocking him to the floor.

"I should castrate you right now!" Joey made to kick him in his most sensitive spot again.

"Please, stop!" Keith pleaded. "It wasn't even my idea! Pegasus made me do it!"

Joey took a slight bit of pity on him and lowered his foot. "I bet he paid you to do his dirty work. Get out before I find something sharp and chop your balls off." Keith saw the look in Joey's eyes, a look that could strike fear into even the coldest heart, and ran from the room.

Joey gave him one last glare before turning to Yami, who had laid himself back down on the bed. The blonde rushed to his side, running his hands along his body, searching to see what the damage was. "No broken bones." He let out a sigh of relief at that. He thought at first that there were only small cuts and bruises; that is until he spotted a considerable pool of blood underneath him. It hadn't been immediately visible because of the red blanket on the bed. "May I?" he asked, a blush crossing his face.

It took Yami a second to realize what he was asking. "Sure." He spread his legs, letting Joey examine him.

"Oh God, this looks bad." Joey pulled his hands back, covered in blood. "He ripped you up pretty bad back here." Yami didn't respond; he was too numb to feel much pain anymore.

"Yami, I," Joey stopped what he was saying to gathered Yami's clothes that were scattered all over the floor. He carefully dressed him, being as gently as possible. He knew that his underwear and jeans would likely be ruined with all the blood coming out of his ass, but it didn't really matter, it was cold outside and he had to wear something. "Yami, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should have gone with you." Joey started to cry. It scared him that Yami wasn't crying; wasn't giving much of a reaction at all. He just lay there, looking blankly up at him, his body limp and listless.

Joey spotted the bag Yami had his gift in. He picked it up and was about to look inside when Yami said, "That's your Christmas present, Joey." He sounded so weak, so lifeless.

Joey didn't open it; he hooked the bag on his arm and scooped Yami into his arms, holding him against his chest. "We'd better get out of here before anyone comes." Joey had found his way into the building so he managed to find his way out. Once outside he asked, "Think we should take you to the hospital?" While the other wounds didn't need medical attention, his bleeding bottom looked pretty serious to him.

"How are they going to do anything about that? It is not like it can have a bandage put on it."

Yami had a point. Joey walked back to his grandmother's apartment. "I'm so sorry, Yami. I should have-"

"Joey, it was not your fault. It was my own damned fault for being stupid enough to go off by myself." Yami was still dry-eyed and his voice emotionless.

They got back to the apartment and Joey took Yami to the bathroom. His grandma was very worried that he had just ran off like he had, and now was glad that he was back, seemingly unharmed. "(You're back! Thank God. But what happened to Yami?)" Joey was still carrying him.

Joey didn't answer, just went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He set Yami on the floor and started running the water. Once it was the right temperature he started to fill the bath. While it was filling he stripped Yami and then set him in the water. Joey found some soap and a washcloth and cleaned Yami all over, being extra careful with his bottom.

Once he was satisfied that he was clean, he reached for a towel to dry him with. But he couldn't find one. It was strange that a bathroom wouldn't have towels so he figured that his grandma must have done laundry or something. He stood up and opened the door. His grandma was outside, worry written all over her face. "(What happened, Joey?)"

"(Do you have a towel?)" Joey asked, still avoiding the question. His grandma found him a towel and handed it to him. "(Thanks.)"

When he went back inside the bathroom she followed him. Joey didn't notice at first and only did when he was pulling Yami out of the bath. "(Gram!)" he said, blushing.

"(It's not like I've never seen a naked boy before,)" she said stubbornly. "(Why, when you were little you'd streak around the house after a bath and I had to catch you to put a towel on you.)"

"(Gram…)" Joey was blushing even more. Did she have to tell such embarrassing stories? He dried Yami off with the towel and cleaned and bandaged the few cuts he had. He carried him into the bedroom and set him on the bed, not bothering to clothe him and leaving the towel on. He then pulled the covers over him and tucked him in.

"Please, be okay." Joey held Yami's hand in his, trying to comfort him. Yami didn't respond, just closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"(Joey, what happened?)" Joey's grandma asked again.

Joey gulped, not letting go of Yami's small hand. "(He got raped, Gram. Some bastard grabbed him and raped him.)"

"(That's horrible! I thought maybe he had been beaten and robbed, but this…why would someone do something like that?)" Joey told her about their previous encounters with Bandit Keith and Pegasus and explained to her that he thought that they were capable of doing anything. "(So it was revenge. Revenge does horrible things to people, makes then do things they regret.)"

"(That's the thing; I don't think they regret it at all! Well, Keith probably regrets that I caught him and gave him what he deserves, but other than that…)" He trailed off.

There was a silence in the room for a time as they both watched Yami sleep. "(Please, be okay. Be okay, Yami.)" Joey gripped Yami's hand, hoping to somehow impart his own strength into his friend. He then turned to his grandma, tears in his eyes. "(Oh, Gram, he's not acting right, not acting right at all. It's like he's partially dead. I want him back. That bastard Keith, he stole Yami away from me.)"

"(Joey, do you believe in God?)"

The question was so sudden that Joey couldn't think of anything to say at first. "(I, I do believe that gods exist, I've just never really been all that religious.)"

"(Will you let me pray with you; pray that he'll recover?)" Her expression was very earnest. Joey nodded. He'd try anything if it might help. Gram placed her hands over Joey's, who still was holding Yami's, and all three of them were connected as she gave a short prayer.

After she was finished Joey felt strangely calmer. "(Thanks, Gram.)" She nodded and left them alone in the bedroom. Joey lay himself down next to Yami, not once letting go of his hand.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

The next day, Christmas Day, shone brightly with a fresh covering of dazzling white snow. The beauty of it was completely lost on Joey though, who was still very worried about Yami, who was still asleep. Sometime after he had fallen asleep his grandma had covered him with a blanket so he wouldn't catch cold. He sat up, wrapping the blanket over his shoulders, looking down at Yami's face as he slept. He looked so peaceful; you could hardly imagine what had happened to him the night before.

"(Would you like some breakfast, Joey?)" Gram poked her head into the room. She had been periodically checking on the two boys after she had gotten up rather early that morning.

"(Nah, not hungry.)" It was probably the only time he'd say such a thing.

Joey stayed on the bed with Yami the entire day; not once leaving his side. And Yami didn't once wake up. Joey dozed off during the day, not ever in as deep a sleep as Yami was in, but he did sleep a lot. When it was dark outside Yami finally opened his eyes.

"You're awake!" Joey exclaimed happily.

Yami's eyes were much brighter and full of life than they had been before. Joey also saw that they were now brimming with unshed tears. Yami didn't say anything, just started to cry. Joey pressed against him and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. "Shh, it'll be okay." They just stayed there for a while until Yami stopped crying. "You feel better now?" Joey asked, wiping a tear from Yami's cheek.

"Yes, but, Joey," he stared straight into Joey's eyes, making him a little nervous. "I still feel so, defiled. Joey, make love to me right now, to get the memory of what that man did to me to go away."

"But, your ass, you might bleed again. It's too soon."

"Joey, do it. Now." His deep voice was so commanding that it brooked no argument.

Joey cringed, looking like he was going to back down again. But he took a deep breath and pulled the blanket and the towel off of Yami. Joey was as gentle and slow as he possibly could be, but even so Yami still bled a little. He knew that Yami wasn't in pain from it though from how he kept moaning in pleasure under him. As they both came to their climax they cried out each other's names, both gripping the sheets.

Joey flopped down next to Yami, exhausted. "Of course you'd make me do all the work," he teased. Yami was still pretty weak, and had stayed on his back the entire time and let Joey do everything.

"Oh of course," Yami teased back, pulling Joey into a kiss. "You really did give me what I wanted for Christmas."

"Christmas!" In all his worry about Yami's well-being Joey had forgotten that it was Christmas. He glanced at the clock; it was 11 p.m. "It's still Christmas, let's go open presents!"

Yami had to smile at Joey's child-like enthusiasm. He got up and followed Joey, a little wobbly, taking a short detour to the bathroom to clean and attempt to bandage his bottom. He also slipped on his pajamas before going to the living room. They entered the room, hands tightly clasped together.

Joey's grandma was sitting in her rocking chair, knitting away on something, Clementine curled up on her lap. She had heard the boys when they had called out each other's names. She had known from the very beginning that they were more than friends. But she didn't say anything, just smiled at them as they entered.

They sat down at the foot of the tree, staring up at it in awe. Neither of them had helped decorate it so this was the first time they had seen it festooned in lights and ornaments. It was themed in blue, white, and silver, with both blue and white lights and ornaments of snowflakes mostly, with angels and stars thrown in. A white angel sat atop it, its wings spread.

"It's beautiful," Joey breathed. He reached under the tree and pulled out a small package. "This is for you, Yami."

Yami took it. From the size and shape he was pretty sure what it was. Upon opening it he found that it was indeed a Duel Monsters card; a very rare Duel Monsters card that he had wanted for some time. "You should not have, this must have cost you."

"Not really. I bought a card pack on a whim and there it was, right on top!"

Yami spotted a package he didn't recognize and pulled it out, curious. He handed it to Joey. "It is written in English."

Joey squinted at it. "Says it's for me, from you."

"But I did not wrap anything."

"(Oh, I found the bag you brought back and thought you'd want it wrapped.)" Gram didn't know what they were saying, but she had seen that they had the package. After Joey and Yami had come back the night before, she had found the bag where Joey had tossed it, and taken the liberty of wrapping it. She was only guessing that it was a gift from Yami to Joey, and she had been correct.

Joey translated and Yami thanked her for doing it. Joey opened the package. He stared down at the hoodie, not sure what to make of it at first. "Everyone thinks I'm a dog, eh?" He pulled it on; Yami had gotten the right size and it fit perfectly.

"You have to admit that it fits you very well," Yami said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Yeah, yeah." Despite his complaining, Joey did like it, and would wear it a lot in the days to come.

Joey reached under the tree and pulled out the last present. "(You said that you didn't want a gift yourself, Gram, so I did what you said and got something for your cat.)" He unwrapped the gift himself and pulled out a bag of catnip flavored treats and a toy that was a feather on a string. He opened the bag of treats and Clementine jumped down from her bed on Gram's lap. She let out an adorable mew and looked at Joey, waiting for him to give her a treat.

"Sit, girl!" Joey commanded. Clementine just looked at him.

"Joey, that is a cat, not a dog," Yami informed him.

Joey gave up on getting the cat to do tricks and just gave her the treat. She pounced on it and gobbled it up. He gave her a couple more before Gram told him that he should probably stop or she might get sick. Joey amused himself greatly watching Clementine chase the feather on the string. Yami was amused as well and they were soon both laughing.

Gram finally put down her knitting and held up what she had been working on. "(These are for you boys.)" She had made two matching blue scarves, not all one solid color but with different shades of blue mixed together. One had the English letter J on it and the other had Y on it. She handed the one with the Y to Yami and the one with the J to Joey. They took them, thanking her and smiling. "(Since we didn't have our Christmas dinner today, we should make it tomorrow.)"

"(That'd be great, Gram, but we're leaving tomorrow.)" While their break lasted until after New Year's, their tickets to go back to Japan were for the day after Christmas.

"(Oh, that's right. What time are they set for?)"

Joey ran and got the tickets from the bedroom. "(3 p.m.)"

"(That should give us plenty of time to make and eat it and still get you to the airport.)" So it was decided that they would still have their Christmas dinner, just a day later than planned. It was almost midnight so they all went to bed; even though Joey and Yami had slept all day they were still tired and managed to get to sleep. They were still holding hands the entire time, snuggled up to each other.

**The End…for now**

**Series: **Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Characters:** Joey, Yami, Yugi, Bandit Keith, and Pegasus

**Warnings:** Contains boyxboy relationships, rape, and violence

**Pairings:** Dragonshipping (JoeyxYami)

**Summary:** Joey gets plane tickets to go visit his grandmother in Brooklyn, New York, for Christmas. He takes Yami and Yugi with him and they have a great time, at first….but what will happen when Yami wanders off by himself in a foreign city and then meets up with some of their none-too-friendly American "friends?"

**Note: **When the words have (These) around them it means they are speaking in English. Also note that this is the sequel to my story "Fun and Game," and makes more sense if you read that one first. Also, I am resubmitting this because I wanted it to be its own story.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

It was December, only a few days before Christmas. Usually the kids at Domino High School didn't get any time off for the holiday, it being a Christian holiday and Japan not being a Christian country. But this year the student body had voted to give the school a Christmas break and they had gotten it.

Currently Joey was over at Yugi's house waving a pair of tickets he had just pulled out of his pocket around. "Lookit, tickets to go to America!" His grandma, who lived in Brooklyn, New York, had invited him and his dad to come over and visit and had mailed him the tickets. He had gone to his dad and tried to tell him about it, but he had thrown a broken bottle in his face that he had narrowly missed getting cut with. He decided his dad was way too drunk to even care if he went off to America for the holiday. He was also still terrified of him after how that summer he had beat and raped him and he was glad that he didn't have to spend any time with him.

"America? Why America?" Yami asked. He had thought, with Joey's blonde hair, that he might be part American. Although he had also thought that it might just be bleached.

"Oh my grandma lives there. You see, my dad is American and my mom is Japanese." Joey ran a hand through his golden locks. Still, even though he was half American, and his dad had blonde hair, it was a little unusual for him to have blonde hair. Blonde hair was a recessive genetic trait and it would have been more likely for him to have brown or black hair, but somehow he had ended up with blonde hair.

"I was born in Brooklyn and we moved here when I was little." That would explain how he still had a bit of a New York accent even though he spoke Japanese. It was a strange mix but Yami had gotten used to it.

"Do you speak English?" With how horrible Joey was in English class Yami kinda doubted it.

"Yes, though it's a bit rusty. I can't write it so well though." He shyly handed one of the tickets to the shorter boy. "Here, come with me."

"You sure you want me to come? I can't speak English."

"It'll be fine, I can translate. Come on, I want you to come." He reached out and took Yami's hands in his own. That summer the two boys had realized that they had feelings for each other on their summer vacation to the beach. They had kept it a secret from everyone else but still saw each other a lot. But they had hung out a lot before they had known that they were attracted to each other so no one had noticed. Except Téa, who was still suspicious that something was going on between the two.

"Well, okay. I did not have anything better to do over the holiday." Yami ran his fingers over Joey's palm, enjoying the warmth.

They got everything worked out, how to get to the airport, passports, everything, and soon were on a plane headed to the United States of America. The first thing Yami noticed as he stepped off the plane and into the airport was how tall everyone was. He was pretty short even for a Japanese guy, only five foot, but here he felt like a midget.

They wondered through the airport, not knowing what to do, until Joey spotted a sign with his name on it. "Oh, hey, there's my grandma!"

They walked up to a little old lady who was plump and about the same height as Yami. She had a kind smile and was waving at them. "(Hello, Joey, you've gotten so much bigger since the last time I saw you.)"

"(Well, yeah, Gram, it's been like eleven years since I last saw you.)"

Yami hung back from them, not having any idea what they were saying and feeling a little awkward. He smiled politely and kept quiet.

"(Where's your father? And who's this?)" Joey's grandma had noticed Yami. "(Such strange hair.)" She grabbed a handful of his blonde bangs and fingered them. "(Three colors all together, that must have taken some time to do.)"

"(Believe it or not but his hair is naturally like that. His grandpa's got hair like that too, but it's all turned grey.)" He gestured toward the short boy. "(This is Yami,)" he paused, thinking what to use for his last name since he technically didn't have one, "(Moto. Yami Moto.)"

Yami knew that he was being introduced, understanding his own name, but otherwise he was still in the dark. "What is going on, Joey?"

"(Oh, he speaks Japanese. Does he speak English?)"

"(No, he only speaks Japanese. He's confused about what's going on. Oh and, Dad's not here because he didn't want to come.)" It wasn't entirely the whole truth, but it was close enough. "(Yami's my best friend so I thought I'd bring him along instead. I hope that's okay.)"

"(Oh it's fine, dear. It'll be nice to have some young people around. That hair of his will take some getting used to though.)" She ran a hand along the edge of it.

Joey's grandma had a car parked out in the parking lot and they took it to her apartment building. The streets were quite crowded and it took them some time to get through them. Yami commented that it might take less time just to walk than to bother to take a car. Joey translated for him and Joey's grandma replied that it probably would be faster, but they might get mugged on the way.

They got to the building and got out, parking the car along the side of the road. Joey and his grandma walked up the stairs but Yami lingered on the sidewalk. It had just started to snow, huge fluffy snowflakes drifting down. If he blocked out all the street noise and just focused on the flakes it was almost magical.

He was almost scared out of his skin when Joey grabbed him by the shoulder, interrupting the moment. "You'd better come inside. It's cold out here."

"Holy Ra, do not scare me like that, I was about to kick you in the balls." His heart was still pounding a mile a minute. He had thought that maybe he was going to get mugged, or worse.

Joey laughed. "Nope, just me. Come on, Grandma has food in there, I'm starving!"

The two boys went inside. Joey's grandma did indeed have food in the kitchen. Mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and streamed broccoli. They sat down at the table and ate all of it. Joey usually ate like any teenage boy, like a pig, but he was even hungrier because of the trip.

And also because of the trip, they were both very tired. With the jet lag and the time zone difference their bodies were confused and all they wanted to do was sleep. "(I set up a mattress on the floor in the spare bedroom along with the bed. I had intended that you and your father were going to stay there, Joey. But if you want I can move the mattress somewhere else.)"

"(Oh, we can sleep in the same room, it's fine with us.)"

They put their bags on the floor and changed into their night clothes; which for Joey was just stripping down to his underwear and for Yami putting on his pajamas. They didn't really care who took the bed and who took the mattress so they just randomly chose and Joey ended up with the bed.

Joey fell asleep almost instantly but Yami just couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't that the mattress was uncomfortable, it was actually quite comfortable; he just felt somehow uneasy. He crawled unto the bed and under the covers with Joey, snuggling up to his bare back.

"Hmm, wha?" Joey blinked his brown eyes open, feeling Yami against him. "You didn't like the mattress?"

"I was just lonely down there. Plus it is cold in here." Yami wrapped his arms around Joey's chest from behind. "You are warm." He signed happily and buried his face in his back.

Joey flipped over so that they were face to face. "I never knews you to be clingy," he teased, pulling Yami close and kissing him softly on the cheek.

Yami returned the kiss, but made his on Joey's lips. They fell asleep, wrapped up together. They had slept together a few times already over the months; but just that, slept together. They had yet to have sex. Joey was still too afraid of what his father had done to him to want to do anything other than kiss and hug his friend and lover. At times Yami got a little horny and wanted to do more but he respected Joey's feelings and didn't push it.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

The next morning Yami woke up to find that Joey wasn't in the bed anymore. He panicked for a second and completely forgot where he was. He sat up, groping through the sheets, fruitlessly looking for the blonde boy. He blinked, realized what he was doing, and was finally awake. He had had a dream that Joey had left him and it had scared him.

"Morning, sleepy head, I've already been awake for an hour." Joey stepped into the room. He was showered and dressed already. "I've got fun plans for today."

"What kind of plans?" Yami got up off the bed, looking in a mirror. His hair was a total mess, sticking out every which way in a crazy manner.

"Oh, Christmas shopping plans." Joey didn't elaborate on these plans and left the room.

Yami ran a hand through his hair then went over to his bag and pulled out the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi, of course, had known about the trip and was glad to come too, but he had let Yami have his body for the time being. At first Yugi had been rather uncomfortable about Joey and Yami's relationship, but now that time had passed and he had gotten used to it and was, for the most part, okay with it. But he did, of course, what to see America for himself.

Yami linked his consciousness with Yugi's. 'Hello, Yugi, how are you doing?' He ran a finger over the cold metal of the puzzle. It had been a bit of a challenge getting the thing passed airport security. After all a big, pure gold, object wasn't the most common thing to try to take with you on a plane. Yami had claimed that it was a family heirloom, and technically it was, and after inspecting it they let him take it with him, but only if he kept it in his luggage and not with his carry on. It was deemed that it could be used as a weapon so they didn't let him have it on his person; which was why it was in his bag. Yami had been so tired the night before that he hadn't taken it out.

'Fine, not much to do in here though; just float around and stare at hieroglyphics. After a while you just kinda drift into a state of nothingness. Know what I mean?'

'Yes. I was stuck in that thing for thousands of years. Though for most of it I was not aware of anything.' Yami walked into the bathroom, still talking with Yugi. 'Joey is planning on going on a shopping trip today. I think you would probably enjoy that more than I would.' Yami slipped inside the Puzzle, letting Yugi have his body back.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, and taking care of his messed up hair, Yugi joined the two Wheeler's in the kitchen. They ate breakfast and then Yugi and Joey headed out to go shopping. They didn't have a particular plan; they just wanted to see what they could find.

"I wanna get something for my Gram, Yugi," Joey had noticed that Yugi and Yami had switched, but didn't seem to mind, "But I haven't seen her since I was five so I don't know what to get her."

"Maybe something to do with cats?" Yugi suggested.

"Why cats?"

"She has a pet cat. I saw it this morning while getting dressed."

"Really? I didn't know she had a cat."

"Came out from under the bed. A small orange tabby." It had surprised Yugi when it had suddenly appeared. He had tried to pet it but it ran away.

They looked in many little stores but Joey couldn't find the perfect gift for his grandma. Yugi, on the other hand, found the perfect gift for Téa. They had, of course, told their friends that they were going to America. Though Yugi hadn't actually told Téa where in America they were going. If she had known that they were going to Brooklyn, which was part of New York, she'd have wanted to go with them even more and they just didn't have another ticket at such short notice. Téa wanted to become a dancer in New York, so she would have loved to come with them.

He held up a tiny, delicate dancing ballerina on a box that spun and played music. It was perfect for her and he bought it. American dollars confused him but he figured it out. After Yugi showed it to Joey he got the idea that they should get gifts for all their friends. "I knows just what to get Tristan; though it might be a little hard to find it." Tristan liked superhero movies, and America was definitely the place to find them, but he wanted ones that were either dubbed or subbed in Japanese. That might be hard to find.

They scoured many, many stores but couldn't find any superhero movies that fit the bill. They also couldn't find anything for Bakura or Joey's grandma, but they didn't really know what to get for them. They were about to give up when they happened upon a store that sold rather random things. It had things that Joey and Yugi had no idea what they were, plus various odds and ends.

While Joey was searched a rack of VHS's a girl who worked at the store approached him. "(Hi, can I help you find something?)" Joey seemed to be looking for something in particular but didn't seem to be having any luck.

"(Ah, yes. You wouldn't happen to have any superhero movies dubbed or subbed in Japanese? I know it's a strange order, but I wanted to get my friend a gift from America and that would be just perfect.)" Joey said, rubbing the back of his head in slight frustration.

"(That is a strange order. But this is a strange store. Just last week we got an order for just that, superhero movies in Japanese. But the guy who ordered them never picked them up so we still have them.)" The girl kept staring at Joey and it was making him a little nervous.

"(Oh that's great!)" Joey grinned; he had actually found what he was looking for. "(But can I buy them, they were ordered by someone else after all.)"

"(If the guy hasn't picked them up by now I'm pretty sure he doesn't want them.)" The girl led Joey to the counter where she had the VHS's stored.

"(So are you Japanese? With that hair you don't really look it.)"

"(Only half. I'm visiting my American grandma right now.)" The girl was still staring at him and Joey continued to feel nervous.

"(That's cool.)" The girl handed him the tapes and Joey handed her money. "(So you wouldn't happen to want to hang out tomorrow or something?)" The girl had thought Joey was cute the moment she spotted him and was interested.

"(Um, well, I'm here to spend time with my grandma, and…)" The girl was obviously hitting on him. Joey was usually quite dense to that kind of thing but he could tell this time. He didn't know how to tell her that he was taken and do it nicely.

He was saved the trouble when Yugi came up to him. He had been just randomly looking at things in the store. He had no idea what the two were talking about but Joey looked to have dug himself into a hole of some sort so he had come over to help. "Did you actually find Japanese superhero movies?"

"Yep," Joey held them up then stowed them in a bag.

"Wow, well, guess we only have Bakura and your grandma left to find things for. Come on." Yugi took Joey's arm and tugged him out of the store before the girl could say anything else.

"Whew," Joey let out a sign of relief. "That could have been awkward."

"What was going on?" Yugi had an idea of what was going on but not being able to understand English hadn't helped.

"That girl was hitting on me."

"Oh? She was kinda cute; you should have gone for it." Yugi winked mischievously.

"You know that me and Yami…" Joey realized that Yugi was teasing and stopped.

"Hey, now that we're in America you know what we can do?" Yugi changed the subject.

"What?" Joey absently twirled his bag around.

"Eat real American hamburgers!" Yugi grinned. The boys loved to eat them even back in Japan so this was the perfect opportunity to try some of the originals.

"Hell yes!" They found a hamburger restaurant and went in. It wasn't one of the chain restaurants, but an old-fashioned one that prided itself in having the best ingredients. Both boys agreed that they were the best burgers they had ever had and they would definitely have to come back before they went back to Japan.

On their way back to Joey's grandma's apartment Yugi asked Joey if he'd teach him some English. "How do you say 'where's the bathroom?' in English, Joey?"

"Why, you need to use one?" Joey was in a very happy mood after having both found a gift for his oldest friend and having had delicious food.

"No, I just want to learn some English so I'm not so confused."

Joey taught Yugi some basic English and he seemed to catch on pretty quickly. Once back at the apartment Joey's grandma was a little worried. "(You were out so long and didn't come back for lunch, I was a little concerned. There are some pretty horrible people out on those streets.)"

"(Ah, don't worry, Gram, we'll be okay,)" Joey reassured her.

Not all that much happened the rest of the afternoon. Joey's grandma liked to knit and so she sat in her rocking chair, knitting something. "(Did you know that this rocking chair is over a hundred years old?)"

Joey sat, cross legged, at the foot of the rocking chair, feeling like a little kid again, staring up at his grandma. They talking about randomly things, and talked and talked.

Yugi, still not being able to understand them, got bored and poked around the living room. He found a bookshelf and started to look at the books. Most of them held no interest for him as they we all words and he couldn't read the words very well. But then he found a set of small paperback books that had colorful pictures of animals, both real and imagined, in them.

He was so enthralled with them that he didn't realize that he was the only one left in the room. He put down the book he was looking at, which was about little lambs, and stood up. No one was in the living room with him anymore and we wondered where they were. He wandered into the kitchen, searching. Yugi found Joey's grandma in there, cooking. He lingered at the door, not saying anything, not knowing what to say, or how to say it.

Some sixth sense told Joey's grandma that someone was watching her and she turned around. She found Yugi watching her, silently. She took a double take; she could have sworn that he looked different now than he had yesterday when he had first arrived. It was something about his eyes, mostly. His hair was also different; it didn't have as many blonde pieces sticking up. But he could have just restyled it. So what really caught her eye were his eyes. They were somehow wider and younger looking now; before they had looked sharper and more exotic, more fierce, even though he had shown no aggressive behavior. She shook her head, thinking her old eyes were playing tricks on her, and turned back to her cooking.

Joey came into the room, he had been in the bathroom, and was now wiping his wet hands on his pants. "(Hi guys, miss me?)"

"(Now, Joey, there is a hand towel to dry your hands on, not your pants,)" Joey's grandma scolded him.

"(Sorry, Gram, I forgot, and it's just so much faster this way.)"

"(Joey,)" she lowered her voice even though Yugi couldn't understand her, "(There's something, well different about your friend today. Did you notice?)"

It took Joey a moment to realize that his grandma must have noticed the difference between Yugi and Yami. It would be just too weird to tell her the truth that he was technically two different people living in the same body, and said something that made more sense. "(Well, you see Yug erm, Yami,)" he remembered at the last second that he had introduced his grandma to Yami first and should use just one name, "(Sometimes has these kinda mood changes, and his personality is a bit different.)"

"(He has multiple personality disorder?)" It was the only explanation she could come up with.

"(Ah, no, he only has two, and he's perfectly sane.)"

"(I don't know, Joey, he sounds a little dangerous. Are you should you should be making friends with people like him?)" Her mothering instincts were kicking in and she couldn't help but be worried for her grandson.

"(He's perfectly safe, Gram, just a little different.)"

"(Well, if you say so, Joey.)" She wasn't entirely convinced, but neither Yugi nor Yami had done anything to really worry her.

Yugi had gotten bored and wondered over to the window, having no idea that he was being talked about. It was snowing again, a wonderland of white falling from the sky. "We should build a snowman."

Joey came over to him. "Yeah, we should; but where? Gram doesn't have a yard."

"I saw a small park near here on the way back from shopping."

"Then let's do it; should be fun." Joey forgot for a moment that it was Yugi and not Yami standing next to him and he wrapped an arm around Yugi's waist.

Yugi felt uncomfortable with the intimate contact and sidestepped to get away from it. "Let's go right now!" Yugi was a little flustered and ran to get his boots and coat on.

"(Ah, where is he going? Dinner's almost ready,)" Gram said when she saw that Yugi was getting ready to go outside.

"(Yeah, we'd better wait until after we eat.)" Joey informed Yugi of this and he stopped just as he was zipping up his puffy blue coat. Yugi looked disappointed but took the coat off, but left his boots on, and sat down at the kitchen table.

After they ate the two boys rushed over to the park. On their way they paused to just stare in wonder at the snow drifting down, making the world a white, sparkling winter wonderland. "Hey, Joey, look! I'm a Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Yugi shouted watching his own breath turn into fog.

"Well I'm a Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey breathed out as well.

"Ha! I have more attack points!"

When they got to the park they found a group of small children already there and just as they had planned to do themselves, they were building a snowman. Joey and Yugi contemplated not building one because of this, but decided to just go ahead and do it. In fact, they took it as a challenge to build a bigger and better snowman than the children; but the children had used up most of the snow in the park already and they didn't manage to make a bigger one.

One of the children laughed at them and playfully threw a snowball. Joey took this as the start of a war and threw snowballs back. Soon the park was a warzone of flying snow. Yugi and Joey were outnumbered and toppled their snowman to use it as a shield against the cold projectiles. They hid behind it and flung snow as best they could at the pack of children.

Soon it was dark and the children left to go home. Joey and Yugi went back to the apartment as well, laughing and retelling their favorite parts of the snowball fight. "Did you see that kid's face when you threw that huge snowball in her face?" Yugi giggled, holding his side where a snowball that had accidentally had a chunk of ice in it had hit him and left a light bruise.

"Oh yeah, that's was priceless! But then she threw an even bigger one right back at me!" The two boys had had a great time and felt like little kids again. When they got back to the apartment Gram had made them hot chocolate and they drank it thankfully. They had gotten quite cold out there and the temperature was still dropping.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

After they had finished their drinks they headed into their room to sleep. Yugi picked up the Puzzle from the nightstand where he had left it and slipped it on, letting Yami have his body. He hadn't put it on that day because it was a hassle to try to keep it under his coat.

Yami walked over to Joey, who was sitting on his bed, and knelt down by his legs. He rested his head on Joey's knee and looked up at him. "So, what did you do today?" He was tempted to add, 'Without me,' on the end, but held his tongue. No need to make Joey feel guilty.

"Oh it was awesome. We went shopping and found the perfect gifts for both Tristan and Téa, went to this burger place with the best burgers ever, and had a snowball fight." He was grinning from ear to ear and Yami found it impossible to stay jealous that Yugi got to spend the day with him.

"Sound like you had fun." Yami ran a hand up Joey's thigh, if he couldn't spend time with him in the day, he'd claim him at night.

Joey let out a small gasp as Yami's hand came a little too close to his crotch. "Yami, what are you doing?! Stop it!" He crawled up onto the bed, pulling his legs in front of him as a kind of shield.

"Oh come on, Joey, you've been holding out on me for months." Yami stood and got onto the bed next to Joey, running a finger down his leg.

"Stop it! I, I'm not ready yet. It's too soon." His eyes looked petrified and Yami pulled his hand back. He really was still scared of his father molesting him.

"Any other guy would jump at the first mention of sex. But you," Yami signed. "Joey, you are never going to get over it if you do not just get some balls and just do it."

"I know, but, when you touch me there, my brain tells me that it's him, putting his filthy hands all over me…and.." He couldn't finish the sentence.

Yami couldn't entirely understand what Joey was going through, never having had the same thing happen to him, but he could see that he was scared and he didn't like to see that. "Damn it, Joey, guys have needs. I have needs." He came in closer to the blonde, pulling him into a kiss. If he could just seduce him long enough he was sure he'd get over it.

But Joey wasn't having any of it. He pulled back from the kiss, backing up against the wall. "Yami, I said no. Please stop."

"Arggh, Joey!" But he backed off, disgruntled. He glanced down. His body had other ideas. "See what you did. And you are not doing to do anything to help me, are you?" He stormed out of the room to the bathroom to take care of his 'problem.'

When he came back Joey had gotten ready for bed and was tucked in. Yami didn't say a word to him and changed into his pajamas, getting into his bed on the floor. There was an awkward silence that was finally broken when Joey asked, "Are you mad at me?"

Yami stayed quiet for a moment and then, "What do you think?"

"Sorry, it's just, I, I can't get over it that easily." Even though Yami couldn't see him from where he was, his was sure that Joey had a sad, downcast expression.

"What if I let you be on top?"

It took Joey a bit to realize what Yami meant. "Wait a minute; you were planning on topping ME?" He sounded shocked at the mere thought of it. "But you're so tiny; I don't sees how that would work."

"What does size have to do with anything? It is how you use it." Though Yami had to admit that if Joey really wanted to he was considerably bigger and stronger than he was and could easily dominate him.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

"Hey, Yami, want to come shopping with me this time?" Joey asked. He was trying to ignore the awkwardness of the night before and do something that would distract them both. "We still need something for Bakura and Gram; and something for you and Yugi, for that matter."

It was Christmas Eve day and they still needed more gifts for their friends. Joey wanted to spend more time with his Grandma and invited her to come along with them. She said she'd come, but only if they could rest whenever she wanted to; she just didn't have the stamina that the young people did.

They were in a store that sold a lot of glass things and Joey was eyeing a bag full of colorful glass marbles. "What do we get for Bakura? I haven't really known him for that long and don't know him that wells."

"Well, we could get him Duel Monster's cards, or some role playing figurines," Yami suggested; but even to his own ears the items sounded wrong. Bakura already had those things, why would he want more?

"These marbles sure are pretty." Joey picked up the bag, fingering the orbs.

"Why not get him those? Ra, even I would like them." He spotted a larger marble nearby and picked it up. It was a pale blue and about the size of a golf ball. "You could get him this shooter too and then he could play with them."

"You play a game with marbles? I thought they were just to look pretty." Figures that the King of Games would know this.

"Yes, the game of marbles was first invented in ancient Egypt; you make a circle and take turns knocking the marbles out of the circle with the shooter. Whoever gets the most marbles out wins."

"Alright, I'll get these for him then." He took the shooter marble from Yami and went and bought them. "Now, what do I get for you, Yami?"

"You do not need to get anything for me, Joey. Just being here with you is plenty."

"I like the sentiment, but I really wanna gets you something."

"You could finally have sex with me," Yami said bluntly.

Joey blushed crimson. "Let's not talk about that. I want to get something that you can open up."

"I could take your clothes off." Yami smirked, enjoying how flustered he was making his boyfriend.

"Yami!" Joey looked so embarrassed that Yami relented and stopped teasing him.

"I do not know, I cannot really think of anything I want. Except maybe some rare cards that are much too expensive." He knew that Joey didn't have much in the way of money, and was using a lot of it on these Christmas gifts.

"Then I'll go ask Gram what she wants." Joey's grandma was sitting out on a bench outside the store waiting for them. Joey sat down next to her. "(Hi, Gram, what do you want for Christmas?)" He decided to just come out and say it instead of beating around the bush.

"(Oh dear, you don't need to get me anything. Just having you here with me for Christmas is plenty.)"

It was exactly what Yami had said. "(But, Gram, I really wanna gets you something.)"

"(Really, Joey, I have no need for a material gift. Though I'm sure Clementine would love something.)"

Joey was confused. "(Who's Clementine?)" As far as he knew his grandma lived alone; his grandfather had passed away years ago.

"(My cat. She's a tiny little orange thing. Not very sociable, but the cutest little darling.)" So Yugi really had seen a cat come out from under the bed yesterday.

The three of them wondered the streets some more and Joey bought some cat treats and a toy with a feather on it for Clementine. Now Yami was the only one he had left to get a gift for. He was going to press him again for what he wanted, but Yami beat him to it. "What do you want as a gift, Joey?" Yami asked.

"Well, a new shirt would be nice."

"Clothes? You want clothes for Christmas?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

It seemed like an odd request, but at least Yami had an idea of what to get him now. It was after noon now and they headed back to the apartment and ate lunch. After lunch Joey sat down in the one hundred year old rocking chair and turned on the TV. He was flipping through the channels, trying to pick a Christmas special to watch, when Yami came in.

"What kind of shirt would you like?" Yami wanted more details before going to look for one.

"Dunno. Surprise me." He was too busy staring at the screen to give Yami his full attention.

Yami made to sit down on Joey's lap but Joey pushed him back. "This chair is really old; I don't think it could hold us both."

"But I do not even weigh a hundred pounds."

"Really? I knew you were small, but that's just tiny."

Before anything else could be said Gram came into the room. "(What would you boys like for Christmas dinner? I want to make something special, it is Christmas, after all.)"

"(I dunno. I could come to the store with you, Gram, and help you choose.)" Joey stood up. He informed Yami what was going on and asked if he wanted to come.

Yami said he didn't want to come and they both left without him. Yami had ulterior motives for wanting to stay. Once he was sure that they were gone he put on his coat and slipped out into the cold air. He was determined to get Joey a present, and it would be all the better if it was a surprise. Sure, Joey would likely know that it was a shirt, since that's what he had asked for, but it could still be a surprise what kind of shirt it was.

He searched in the stores they had already looked in earlier that day and the day before but couldn't find something that just screamed Joey. He finally found just the thing in a small shop that he'd never been to before. It was a light blue hoodie with a Golden Retriever on it. The dog reminded him so much of Joey that he knew that it was the perfect gift. He bought the hoodie and happily left the store.

Before he left the store he spotted a tall man with a white cowboy hat. He was looking at him in a way that made Yami nervous. But in spite of this, he smiled friendlily at the man. Once outside he realized that he had no idea where he was. He had wandered into an alley and had no idea how to get back to the Wheeler apartment.

He got to thinking, that man back in the shop had looked awfully familiar. Then it hit him; that was Keith Howard, the former U.S. Duel Monsters Champion. He hadn't recognized him at first without his signature American Flag bandana. What was he doing here? Though he was an American, and this was America, so it wasn't all that strange. Had the man recognized him? He hadn't said anything, but with Yami's hair it was pretty much impossible not to notice him.

Yami began to feel nervous. A cold chill that was not caused by the weather ran down his spine. If Keith had seen him would he come after him? They were not friends at all, they were enemies and Yami didn't think he could take him in a fight by himself in a dark alley. He kicked himself for being stupid enough to wander into a dark alley without even thinking about the consequences.

Then he spotted the end of the alley, a shaft of light from the setting sun lighting it up. Yami quickened his pace, hoping to get out before anything happened. But as fate would have it, that was not to be the case. A pair of large hands clamped down on his small shoulders. Before he could let out a sound a cloth was shoved over his mouth. Then everything went black.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

Meanwhile Joey had gotten back from grocery shopping with his grandma. They had gotten everything to make a delicious Christmas dinner. Plus his grandma hadn't bought a tree yet so they had gotten one of those as well. It was a Colorado Blue Spruce, and kinda on the wide side, so it had taken some doing to get it through the door.

Joey ran and got the box of ornaments his grandma had to decorate the tree. On his way to find it he looked for Yami. He had been in the living room before they had left so he looked there first. But he couldn't find him in the living room. He didn't get worried yet though. He looked in the bedroom, and then searched every single room in the apartment. But there was no sign at all of Yami. Now he was worried.

He left the box of ornaments by the tree and went to his grandma. "(Gram, have you seen Yami? I can't finds him anywhere.)"

"(Maybe he went out shopping? Oh my, it's not safe for him to do that alone.)" She now looked as worried as Joey.

"(I better go find him.)" Joey put the coat he had just recently taken off back on and dashed out the door, ignoring his grandma's worried cry of: "(It's not safe for you to be out there by yourself either!)"

Joey searched in every place he could think of. He also couldn't help think of how Yami had been angry at him last night. Maybe he was still angry and had gone off and done something irrational. But that didn't sound like something Yami would do. Then he thought that that morning Yami had been asking him what he wanted for Christmas. It was more than likely that Yami had just gone off and bought him a Christmas present. But his grandma was right; it wasn't safe for him to wander off by himself. Who knew what kind of creeps were out there.

Finally, by pure luck, Joey came to the store that Yami had bought his present at. He asked the clerk, like he had been asking all the clerks in the stores he searched, if he had seen a short boy with spikey, tri-colored hair come in here. Joey let out a sigh of relief when he said that he had, and that he had been in here not that long ago. He got worried again when the clerk also said that he had seen a suspicious looking man follow him out. Joey found small footprints that looked to be from Yami's boots in the snow, leading into an alley. He followed them, hoping to find his friend on the other end.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

The next thing Yami knew he was lying on a rather comfortable bed. It was not the feeling he was expecting to have after being grabbed and given what was most likely chloroform. He sat up, but he sat up too fast and a spell of dizziness overtook him. He had to lie back down until it passed. When he felt that it would be safe to get up, he did.

He found himself in a small room. The only thing in the room was the rather large bed he had been lying on. The room was themed in red, white, and pink, with the carpet a blood red, the walls white, and the bed a combination of all three colors with a red comforter, pink pillows, and white sheets. Yami looked around for a way out and found that the room had no windows at all, just a single mahogany door.

He walked to the door, glancing down on his way. He was no longer wearing his puffy blue coat or his black boots. He was left wearing what he had put on this morning: his tight, dark blue jeans, a black turtleneck sweater, and fluffy wool socks. He wondered momentarily where his winter clothes had gone, but was more interested in finding out where he was, and how to get out.

Just as he was reaching for the door knob it opened, seemingly of its own accord. "Glad to see that you're awake, Yugi boy."

Yami stared in shock for a moment, not quite believing that Maximillion Pegasus was standing right in front of him. He was dressed in his usual all red outfit, his long silver hair as perfect and shiny as ever. "What are you doing here?" was the only thing Yami could think to say.

"Why, I live here, of course, Yugi boy." He opened the door wider, waving an arm in the direction of the hall. "Care for some tea? I put some water on to boil."

Yami didn't truth Pegasus as far as he could throw him, which admittedly wasn't very far. Why did all these Americans have to be so damn tall? But he followed Pegasus as he led him to a kitchen. Yami had expected it to be huge and expensive looking, but it was actually quite small and had a quaint, homey feeling about it.

Pegasus went over to the stove where a kettle was boiling away happily. "Oh my, I caught it just in time." He filled two cups with hot water and put tea bags in them to seep. "I hope you like Earl Grey, it's absolutely divine."

"What do you want, Pegasus?" Yami couldn't think that the man, who had done so many horrible things to him and his friends in the past, could just want to sit down and have a friendly cup of tea with him.

"Want? All I want is to drink some tea with you." He seemed to have a sudden recollection. "Oh, and cookies. Now where did I put those?" He found the plate of cookies in the refrigerator took it out and placed it on the small round table. The table had a red and white checkered table cloth that only added to the home style feel of the place. "Try one, they're delicious." Pegasus took one and took a small bite out of it. "Mmm, perfect. It could only be better if it was straight out of the oven."

Yami was standing back, arms crossed, glaring at the tall man. "I do not trust you. This is all some kind of trick, is it not?"

"Sit, Yugi boy, I just want to have tea with you." When Yami didn't bulge he asked, "What brings you to Brooklyn?"

"Joey and I are visiting his grandmother." Yami kept his answer as short and undetailed as he could.

"How do you like America?"

"Fine, can I go now?"

"Did I ever say that I was detaining you?" A timer went off and Pegasus went and finished preparing the tea. "Sugar?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Yami.

Yami found himself nodding. His stomach also let out a growl. Just how late in the day was it? "Oh my, I think someone needs to eat. Come on, try the cookies, I made them myself."

"That makes me want them even less." Yami made a face.

"Oh, come now, I'm not that bad of a cook. And I assure you, there is nothing in them besides what is usually in cookies."

"You did not drug them?" Yami was pretty sure that he had, why else would he want him to eat them? Though Pegasus had eaten one himself…

"If I had wanted to do anything to you, Yugi boy, you were unconscious when you got here and I would have had plenty of time then to do anything." He did kind of have a point; Yami didn't know how long he'd been out, and if Pegasus had wanted to do anything it would have been the perfect opportunity. But he had found nothing wrong with his person, so Pegasus must not have done anything.

Against his better judgment, Yami found himself sitting down and taking the mug of tea Pegasus offered him. He took a sip, it really was good. He took one of the cookies; it was shaped like a star and had light pink frosting on it. It was good as well. Soon he had finished the tea and almost the entire plate of cookies, with only a little help from Pegasus. Boy, if there was anything in the cookies or the tea he had sure taken a lot of it. But he waited, and nothing happened. So they really hadn't been drugged.

"How do I get out of here?" Yami stood.

"The exit is that way." Pegasus waved his hand in a direction out the door.

Yami walked out the door and down the hall. No matter how much he walked, he couldn't seem to find the exit. The place was a maze! Maybe that was why Pegasus had let him go; there was no way for him to get out. He would be very scared right now if he had looked behind him as he had left the kitchen; Pegasus had had an absolutely evil grin on his face as he peered at Yami over the rim of his cup.

Yami came across the room with the bed. He peeked inside, he wasn't sure why he did it, but he did. On the side of the bed, the opposite side that he had gotten up on, were his coat, boots, and the bag with Joey's gift in it. He had been too busy with the door to look in that spot and hadn't seen his things at all.

He sat down on the floor and pulled on his left boot. As he was reaching for the right boot a voice spoke, "I wouldn't bother."

Yami's head shot up, a startled expression on his face. He was expecting to see Pegasus, but instead he saw Bandit Keith. Keith lashed out with his foot and kicked Yami's right hand away from the boot. "Oww, that hurt! What did you do that for?!" Yami shouted, rubbing his now bruised hand.

Keith didn't answer, which actually scared Yami more than if he had started cursing at him or something. He reached down and yanked Yami to his feet by the front of his sweater. He then ripped the sweater off and tossed it to the side.

Yami backed up, soon making contact with the wall. The cool wall touching his now bare skin made him shivered and he hugged himself. He then stood up straight, glaring at Keith. "What do you think you are doing?" He thought that maybe he could challenge the man to a duel or something and get himself out of this mess; but he had forgotten to take his deck with him when he went out shopping.

Keith didn't answer him, just picked him up and tossed him none-too-gently onto the bed. Yami immediately tried to get up, but Keith came down on top of him, holding him down. Yami gasped as Keith ran his cold hands along his bare chest. When Keith reached to undo his belt, Yami brought up his still booted left foot and slammed it into the man's stomach.

Keith let out a cry of pain and released his hold on the small boy. Yami crawled out from under him and ran to the door. But it was locked and no matter how much he jiggled the door knob it wouldn't budge. He put his entire weight into slamming into the door, but that didn't work either.

"You little shit; you're going to pay for doing that." Keith, still clutching at his stomach, got up from the bed and advanced toward Yami.

Yami made the first move and struck out with his fist at the man. Keith easily caught it and grabbed both of Yami's hands, holding them together above his head, backing him up against the wall. With his other hand he reached down and unbuckled Yami's belt, throwing it with more force than was necessary at the wall. It hit and left a good dent. Pegasus was not going to like that.

Keith again picked Yami up and tossed him on the bed. Yami wasn't going down without a fight and kept his legs firmly clamped together. But this really wasn't much of a match for the much larger man, who unbuttoned Yami's jeans and pulled them, along with his briefs, off and threw them on the floor. Yami kicked out again, but Keith had removed his boot before removing his pants; plus he was ready for the kick, catching the foot. "If you just stop struggling this will be so much easier." He pulled a knife out of his pocket and held it to Yami's throat. "Any more out of you and I'll slit your damn throat."

Yami lay absolutely still, not daring to even breathe. He was sure that Keith would make good on his threat and he didn't want to die. He also didn't want to be raped, but given the choice he'd pick the option that didn't mean instant death. He didn't struggle anymore and let his body go limp.

Yami had to literally bite his tongue to keep from screaming as Keith forcefully rammed into him. He tried to focus on the taste of his own blood instead of what was happening. He gasped and moaned as Keith threw him around on the bed, making it as painful as possible for him. Keith punched him in the stomach, knocking all the air out of his lungs. "Payback's a bitch, hmm?" Keith sneered in his ear.

Yami held his eyes tightly shut, still trying to block it all out. Not only was this humiliating, it was also demoralizing and excruciatingly painful. He now knew what Joey must have felt like when his father had raped him; helpless, worthless, and completely out of control of the situation. He now understood why it was that Joey had refused to have sex with him. It really must have reminded him far too much of this, even though Yami had been gentle with him, there were just too many similarities for Joey's scarred psyche to handle.

When Keith was finally done with him he stood up, leaving Yami, battered and broken, on the bed. But before he made it to the door Yami heard a shout right outside the door. "Yami! Are you in here?"

Yami didn't know if he believed it, that was Joey's voice! "Joey!" he cried out in a hoarse voice, lifting his head slightly off the bed. He was too weak from his ordeal to do anything else.

"Yami?! Are you really in there?!" Yami heard Joey try the door knob. Upon finding it locked Joey broke the door down. It made a very loud noise that must have been heard throughout the building as it broke from its hinges and came crashing to land on the floor.

Joey paused a moment, taking in the scene in the room. His eyes first came to rest on Yami lying, totally naked with several nasty looking bruises on him and a few minor cuts, on the bed. "What the hell?!" He then spotted Keith, trying to sneak past Joey without being seen. "What happened here?! Tell me!" He had followed Yami's footprints until they had ended, being replaced my Keith's larger footprints, and they had led him right to a skyscraper with a winged horse, a Pegasus, outside of it. He just knew that something fishy was going on and entered the building, surprised that it hadn't been locked, and had explored until he heard noises in one of the rooms.

He grabbed Keith by the front of his shirt, glaring up and the man; even though Joey was smaller than he, the sheer ferocity of his actions made Keith gulp, and desperately want to get away. "Tell me!" Joey repeated, propelling Keith backwards until he slammed into the wall. "What did you do to him?!" Keith didn't reply, just stared in fear at the angry blonde.

"He," Yami started, sitting shakily up, "He raped me, Joey." He said it so quietly that it took Joey a second to comprehend what he had said.

"You bastard." Joey would have spit fire right now if he could have. He brought his fist up and punched Keith, repeatedly, in the face. Then he brought his foot up and kicked him in the crotch, knocking him to the floor.

"I should castrate you right now!" Joey made to kick him in his most sensitive spot again.

"Please, stop!" Keith pleaded. "It wasn't even my idea! Pegasus made me do it!"

Joey took a slight bit of pity on him and lowered his foot. "I bet he paid you to do his dirty work. Get out before I find something sharp and chop your balls off." Keith saw the look in Joey's eyes, a look that could strike fear into even the coldest heart, and ran from the room.

Joey gave him one last glare before turning to Yami, who had laid himself back down on the bed. The blonde rushed to his side, running his hands along his body, searching to see what the damage was. "No broken bones." He let out a sigh of relief at that. He thought at first that there were only small cuts and bruises; that is until he spotted a considerable pool of blood underneath him. It hadn't been immediately visible because of the red blanket on the bed. "May I?" he asked, a blush crossing his face.

It took Yami a second to realize what he was asking. "Sure." He spread his legs, letting Joey examine him.

"Oh God, this looks bad." Joey pulled his hands back, covered in blood. "He ripped you up pretty bad back here." Yami didn't respond; he was too numb to feel much pain anymore.

"Yami, I," Joey stopped what he was saying to gathered Yami's clothes that were scattered all over the floor. He carefully dressed him, being as gently as possible. He knew that his underwear and jeans would likely be ruined with all the blood coming out of his ass, but it didn't really matter, it was cold outside and he had to wear something. "Yami, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should have gone with you." Joey started to cry. It scared him that Yami wasn't crying; wasn't giving much of a reaction at all. He just lay there, looking blankly up at him, his body limp and listless.

Joey spotted the bag Yami had his gift in. He picked it up and was about to look inside when Yami said, "That's your Christmas present, Joey." He sounded so weak, so lifeless.

Joey didn't open it; he hooked the bag on his arm and scooped Yami into his arms, holding him against his chest. "We'd better get out of here before anyone comes." Joey had found his way into the building so he managed to find his way out. Once outside he asked, "Think we should take you to the hospital?" While the other wounds didn't need medical attention, his bleeding bottom looked pretty serious to him.

"How are they going to do anything about that? It is not like it can have a bandage put on it."

Yami had a point. Joey walked back to his grandmother's apartment. "I'm so sorry, Yami. I should have-"

"Joey, it was not your fault. It was my own damned fault for being stupid enough to go off by myself." Yami was still dry-eyed and his voice emotionless.

They got back to the apartment and Joey took Yami to the bathroom. His grandma was very worried that he had just ran off like he had, and now was glad that he was back, seemingly unharmed. "(You're back! Thank God. But what happened to Yami?)" Joey was still carrying him.

Joey didn't answer, just went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He set Yami on the floor and started running the water. Once it was the right temperature he started to fill the bath. While it was filling he stripped Yami and then set him in the water. Joey found some soap and a washcloth and cleaned Yami all over, being extra careful with his bottom.

Once he was satisfied that he was clean, he reached for a towel to dry him with. But he couldn't find one. It was strange that a bathroom wouldn't have towels so he figured that his grandma must have done laundry or something. He stood up and opened the door. His grandma was outside, worry written all over her face. "(What happened, Joey?)"

"(Do you have a towel?)" Joey asked, still avoiding the question. His grandma found him a towel and handed it to him. "(Thanks.)"

When he went back inside the bathroom she followed him. Joey didn't notice at first and only did when he was pulling Yami out of the bath. "(Gram!)" he said, blushing.

"(It's not like I've never seen a naked boy before,)" she said stubbornly. "(Why, when you were little you'd streak around the house after a bath and I had to catch you to put a towel on you.)"

"(Gram…)" Joey was blushing even more. Did she have to tell such embarrassing stories? He dried Yami off with the towel and cleaned and bandaged the few cuts he had. He carried him into the bedroom and set him on the bed, not bothering to clothe him and leaving the towel on. He then pulled the covers over him and tucked him in.

"Please, be okay." Joey held Yami's hand in his, trying to comfort him. Yami didn't respond, just closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"(Joey, what happened?)" Joey's grandma asked again.

Joey gulped, not letting go of Yami's small hand. "(He got raped, Gram. Some bastard grabbed him and raped him.)"

"(That's horrible! I thought maybe he had been beaten and robbed, but this…why would someone do something like that?)" Joey told her about their previous encounters with Bandit Keith and Pegasus and explained to her that he thought that they were capable of doing anything. "(So it was revenge. Revenge does horrible things to people, makes then do things they regret.)"

"(That's the thing; I don't think they regret it at all! Well, Keith probably regrets that I caught him and gave him what he deserves, but other than that…)" He trailed off.

There was a silence in the room for a time as they both watched Yami sleep. "(Please, be okay. Be okay, Yami.)" Joey gripped Yami's hand, hoping to somehow impart his own strength into his friend. He then turned to his grandma, tears in his eyes. "(Oh, Gram, he's not acting right, not acting right at all. It's like he's partially dead. I want him back. That bastard Keith, he stole Yami away from me.)"

"(Joey, do you believe in God?)"

The question was so sudden that Joey couldn't think of anything to say at first. "(I, I do believe that gods exist, I've just never really been all that religious.)"

"(Will you let me pray with you; pray that he'll recover?)" Her expression was very earnest. Joey nodded. He'd try anything if it might help. Gram placed her hands over Joey's, who still was holding Yami's, and all three of them were connected as she gave a short prayer.

After she was finished Joey felt strangely calmer. "(Thanks, Gram.)" She nodded and left them alone in the bedroom. Joey lay himself down next to Yami, not once letting go of his hand.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

The next day, Christmas Day, shone brightly with a fresh covering of dazzling white snow. The beauty of it was completely lost on Joey though, who was still very worried about Yami, who was still asleep. Sometime after he had fallen asleep his grandma had covered him with a blanket so he wouldn't catch cold. He sat up, wrapping the blanket over his shoulders, looking down at Yami's face as he slept. He looked so peaceful; you could hardly imagine what had happened to him the night before.

"(Would you like some breakfast, Joey?)" Gram poked her head into the room. She had been periodically checking on the two boys after she had gotten up rather early that morning.

"(Nah, not hungry.)" It was probably the only time he'd say such a thing.

Joey stayed on the bed with Yami the entire day; not once leaving his side. And Yami didn't once wake up. Joey dozed off during the day, not ever in as deep a sleep as Yami was in, but he did sleep a lot. When it was dark outside Yami finally opened his eyes.

"You're awake!" Joey exclaimed happily.

Yami's eyes were much brighter and full of life than they had been before. Joey also saw that they were now brimming with unshed tears. Yami didn't say anything, just started to cry. Joey pressed against him and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. "Shh, it'll be okay." They just stayed there for a while until Yami stopped crying. "You feel better now?" Joey asked, wiping a tear from Yami's cheek.

"Yes, but, Joey," he stared straight into Joey's eyes, making him a little nervous. "I still feel so, defiled. Joey, make love to me right now, to get the memory of what that man did to me to go away."

"But, your ass, you might bleed again. It's too soon."

"Joey, do it. Now." His deep voice was so commanding that it brooked no argument.

Joey cringed, looking like he was going to back down again. But he took a deep breath and pulled the blanket and the towel off of Yami. Joey was as gentle and slow as he possibly could be, but even so Yami still bled a little. He knew that Yami wasn't in pain from it though from how he kept moaning in pleasure under him. As they both came to their climax they cried out each other's names, both gripping the sheets.

Joey flopped down next to Yami, exhausted. "Of course you'd make me do all the work," he teased. Yami was still pretty weak, and had stayed on his back the entire time and let Joey do everything.

"Oh of course," Yami teased back, pulling Joey into a kiss. "You really did give me what I wanted for Christmas."

"Christmas!" In all his worry about Yami's well-being Joey had forgotten that it was Christmas. He glanced at the clock; it was 11 p.m. "It's still Christmas, let's go open presents!"

Yami had to smile at Joey's child-like enthusiasm. He got up and followed Joey, a little wobbly, taking a short detour to the bathroom to clean and attempt to bandage his bottom. He also slipped on his pajamas before going to the living room. They entered the room, hands tightly clasped together.

Joey's grandma was sitting in her rocking chair, knitting away on something, Clementine curled up on her lap. She had heard the boys when they had called out each other's names. She had known from the very beginning that they were more than friends. But she didn't say anything, just smiled at them as they entered.

They sat down at the foot of the tree, staring up at it in awe. Neither of them had helped decorate it so this was the first time they had seen it festooned in lights and ornaments. It was themed in blue, white, and silver, with both blue and white lights and ornaments of snowflakes mostly, with angels and stars thrown in. A white angel sat atop it, its wings spread.

"It's beautiful," Joey breathed. He reached under the tree and pulled out a small package. "This is for you, Yami."

Yami took it. From the size and shape he was pretty sure what it was. Upon opening it he found that it was indeed a Duel Monsters card; a very rare Duel Monsters card that he had wanted for some time. "You should not have, this must have cost you."

"Not really. I bought a card pack on a whim and there it was, right on top!"

Yami spotted a package he didn't recognize and pulled it out, curious. He handed it to Joey. "It is written in English."

Joey squinted at it. "Says it's for me, from you."

"But I did not wrap anything."

"(Oh, I found the bag you brought back and thought you'd want it wrapped.)" Gram didn't know what they were saying, but she had seen that they had the package. After Joey and Yami had come back the night before, she had found the bag where Joey had tossed it, and taken the liberty of wrapping it. She was only guessing that it was a gift from Yami to Joey, and she had been correct.

Joey translated and Yami thanked her for doing it. Joey opened the package. He stared down at the hoodie, not sure what to make of it at first. "Everyone thinks I'm a dog, eh?" He pulled it on; Yami had gotten the right size and it fit perfectly.

"You have to admit that it fits you very well," Yami said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Yeah, yeah." Despite his complaining, Joey did like it, and would wear it a lot in the days to come.

Joey reached under the tree and pulled out the last present. "(You said that you didn't want a gift yourself, Gram, so I did what you said and got something for your cat.)" He unwrapped the gift himself and pulled out a bag of catnip flavored treats and a toy that was a feather on a string. He opened the bag of treats and Clementine jumped down from her bed on Gram's lap. She let out an adorable mew and looked at Joey, waiting for him to give her a treat.

"Sit, girl!" Joey commanded. Clementine just looked at him.

"Joey, that is a cat, not a dog," Yami informed him.

Joey gave up on getting the cat to do tricks and just gave her the treat. She pounced on it and gobbled it up. He gave her a couple more before Gram told him that he should probably stop or she might get sick. Joey amused himself greatly watching Clementine chase the feather on the string. Yami was amused as well and they were soon both laughing.

Gram finally put down her knitting and held up what she had been working on. "(These are for you boys.)" She had made two matching blue scarves, not all one solid color but with different shades of blue mixed together. One had the English letter J on it and the other had Y on it. She handed the one with the Y to Yami and the one with the J to Joey. They took them, thanking her and smiling. "(Since we didn't have our Christmas dinner today, we should make it tomorrow.)"

"(That'd be great, Gram, but we're leaving tomorrow.)" While their break lasted until after New Year's, their tickets to go back to Japan were for the day after Christmas.

"(Oh, that's right. What time are they set for?)"

Joey ran and got the tickets from the bedroom. "(3 p.m.)"

"(That should give us plenty of time to make and eat it and still get you to the airport.)" So it was decided that they would still have their Christmas dinner, just a day later than planned. It was almost midnight so they all went to bed; even though Joey and Yami had slept all day they were still tired and managed to get to sleep. They were still holding hands the entire time, snuggled up to each other.

**The End…for now**


End file.
